Elara’s POV
The air inside the council chamber was thick with tension. The Elders sat in a perfect semicircle, their faces impassive as they regarded me. Some had expressions of doubt, others of intrigue, but none of them were ready to accept me without proof.
I stood tall, my chin raised, despite the weight of their scrutiny.
“You claim to be the Lunar Alpha,” said Elder Cassius, his silver beard flowing down his chest as he observed me with piercing eyes. “Yet, a title is meaningless without power to uphold it.”
I clenched my fists at my sides, fighting the urge to growl. “I don’t just claim it. I am the Lunar Alpha.”
Some of the Elders scoffed.
“Then prove it,” Elder Mara said, her voice sharp. “You must pass the Three Trials—the same trials faced by every Lunar Alpha before you.”
